Rusty Cage
by Scruffy-Nerf-Hearder
Summary: Liz Mason's got her father, she's got Daryl, she's got a whole group of people she thinks of as family, and a purpose in this group. But when she's given a whole new reason to keep on surviving, will she stay the same slightly crazy, kinda reckless walker killer everyone loves, or will she get a whole new outlook on the world? Daryl Dixon/OC Sequel to "Don't Stop Believin'"
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey y'all! Hope you're as excited to read this as I am to post it. Welcome to the sequel to Don't Stop Belivin', I hope y'all have read that already, otherwise all this isn't going to make much sense to you, so if you haven't read it, go on over there and give it a read. Go on, I'll wait. **_

_**...**_

_**Back? Okay, cool, so anyways, this story starts up (Aside from the flashback) about a month after where DSB leaves off. There's going to be new characters, old characters, all kinds of good things, and lots of surprises and fun, and walkers and danger and all kinds of good stuff. Anyways, that's it for the memo, read the story now, and please enjoy! **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or any of the characters, just my characters. Please enjoy.**_

* * *

"_God, what are we doin' here?" _

"_Lizzie, you know I can't face them on my own." _

"_God- well- what's she even doin' out here anyway? It ain't like they like you." _

"_Thanks." Janis rolled her eyes as she pulled a very reluctant Lizzie Mason down the busy maternity wing hallway, headed towards room 435. "They're in town for dad's birthday- remember?" _

"_That's that day when we sing and have cake and stuff, right?" _

"_No honey, that's Cinco De Mayo." _

"_Yeah right bitch, that's the day I get tequila." Lizzie scoffed and Janis laughed lightly. "You ain't takin' my tequila day 'way from me."_

"_Yeah, well, after this I think even I'm going to break my no tequila rule." She mumbled. _

"_I don't blame ya, Tonya's a fuckin' bitch." Janis snorted lightly. _

"_I'll drink to that." She nodded. _

"_Hey, Jannie," Lizzie grinned before pointing to a room number. "Four twenty." _

"_God you are such a little kid sometimes!" Janis laughed and Lizzie snorted. _

"_Bitch please." Lizzie scoffed with a smirk before they got to the room. Janis stood there staring at the door for a moment. "You goin' in there?" _

"_Ugh." Janis moaned and Lizzie rolled her eyes before grabbing her friend and turning her around. _

"_Okay look, we go in there, we see the fetus, we get our asses over to the Silver Spoon, where some tequila falls of the back of a truck, and down our throats and if fuckin' Tonya says shit to me, I'll put speed in her coffee." _

"_Number one, fetus' name is Jamison, and number two, you don't do speed, you're afraid you're going to end up like John Belushi." _

"_Fuckin' A." Lizzie nodded and Janis smiled before nodding. _

"_But thanks." _

"_Look, can we jus' be done with this?" _

"_Five minutes." Janis held up her hand. "That's all." _

"_Fine." Lizzie sighed. _

_Twenty two minutes later Lizzie was sitting between Janis' cousin Noel, and her uncle Harvey, while many other family members talked to Janis, or Tonya and Steve, the new parents. Family members had all flown out when they heard about Tonya giving birth, and people were passing the baby around. Lizzie sighed deeply and looked at her phone before shooting Janis a look. _

"_I know what that look is," Uncle Harvey said suddenly. "Someone's cranky because they want the baby." _

_If Tonya was paying attention to Harvey as he handed her son over to the woman who had almost split her marriage up, she would have jumped across the room and strangled Harvey with her own IV. Luck was on their side however, she was busy describing the perfect shade of yellow to the family because it's considered "Gender neutral". _

_Janis looked over as uncle Harvey instructed Lizzie on how to hold the baby, supporting his neck as he looked up at her with his bright blue eyes. Lizzie stared down at the baby in his little froggy jumper with a blue infant cap and a pair of yellow socks on his hands. Jamison stared up at her; his wide blue eyes were looking her face over as she looked down at him. A balloon suddenly popped and his little body jumped in Lizzie's arms, before he twisted his face up, starting to fuss, Lizzie stood up, holding Jamison closer to her, he quickly quieted down before Janis' Aunt Patricia demanded to hold him, and Lizzie carefully handed him over, supporting his neck as the older woman got used to holding him. Janis smiled as she watched her friend carefully looking over Aunt Patricia for a moment, before looking down, and then over to Janis who quickly pretended to be asking her cousin something. _

"_God Janis, can we go already? I gotta be at the Silver Spoon in fifteen minutes, and if I'm late Patty's gonna have a fuckin' cow. " _

"_Yeah Lizzie wouldn't want to miss her shift as a stripper." Tonya snorted and Lizzie turned around with a smirk as Janis swore under her breath. _

"_Naw, see, I'm the bartender, you remember, the one who would mix ya the drink 'fore you poured it all over yourself for tips." Lizzie smirked and Tonya's nostril's flared. _

"_I- you- Get out!" she demanded and Lizzie threw her hands up. _

"_Finally." _

"_And for the record, I haven't even thought about alcohol in two years, maybe if you found god and quit working at that place you'd find a man, and start your own family, like mine." _

"_Yeah, sure Tonya." _

"_Oh no, wait, I forgot, no one would marry trash like you." _

"_Hey, I may be trash, but I ain't the one who named my kid after a whisky." Lizzie snorted before nodding to Janis who stood up and quickly followed her best friend out of the room, nearly bumping into the nurse who had come into the room. As Lizzie and Janis walked down the hallway, the nurse was walking by them with Jamison in his rolling plastic crib. _

"_There goes the only good thing Tonya will do with her life." Janis sighed and Lizzie shook her head as she watched the baby go by. _

"_Nah. She'll just fuck it up like she does everythin' else." _

"_Such the optimist." Janis nudged Lizzie with her elbow. _

"_I call it like I see it." _

"_So what, Lizzie Mason's too cool to have kids." _

"_Woman please, what the hell kinda person do you think I am? Me with a kid? You outta yer fuckin' mind? Ain't no kid would want me as a momma. I'm way too fucked up for that commitment. Not to mention, there's generally gotta be a father involved." _

"_Well, maybe Bruce-" _

"_I toldja I ain't goin' on no blind date." Lizzie shook her head and Janis sighed. _

"_Just give him a chance!" _

"_No." _

"_He likes hunting." Janis shrugged. "He's not as bad as the others…" _

"_God if I go, will you shuddup about it?" _

"_Yes!"  
_

"_Okay, fine. But you're buying the first round tonight." _

"_What happened to it falling off a truck?" _

"_Yeah, that was b'fore you made me agree to another blind fuckin' date with some guy at the hospital. I'm tellin' ya, no hospital guy's gonna want me." _

"_So you'd rather keep dating guys like Enos and those guys who go into the Silver Spoon? Because that's worked out so well for you." _

"_When did you get so cold?" _

"_Living with you has taught me much." _

"_Well, we'll see if it's taught ya as much as you think." _

"_Oh god not shots." _

"_You're the one who threw the gauntlet." _

"_Can I throw the towel?" she whined. _

"_Nope." Lizzie grinned and Janis sighed. _

"_God I hope I'm not called in tomorrow." _

* * *

"Lizzie," I looked over at T-Dog who climbed the ladder of the RV and nodded to me. "Shift's over."

"Thanks T." I nodded to him before handing him the hand warmer I had been holding for the past two hours.

"Thanks." He nodded to me before I climbed down the ladder to the RV. The past month had been an insane ride; we were currently staying in a small antique store, it was one of the only stores that hadn't had all the windows smashed out, and the door was unlocked. After doing a thorough search we decided it would be a good place for one night.

I walked through the dark crowded store getting to the back corner of the store Daryl and I had claimed as ours, whacking my knee on an old coffee table from the fifties with an old fifties phone on it.

"Fuck." I grunted and I heard movement from the back of the store.

"Liz?"

"Yeah." I whispered as I walked over to Daryl. He was sitting on our bed rolls, one of the places we had hit first after the farm was a camping supply store, where Daryl, Cal and I explained the necessities to everyone. He had a small lantern turned on, this part of the store was hidden behind a couple bookshelves, thus making the light impossible to see from anywhere outside of the store, or inside. A book lay open across his lap as I leaned the gun against the side of a shelf and started unlacing my boots.

"How's it?"

"Cold." I replied. "Cold and dead." I slipped my boots off and then walked over and sat down next to him. He lifted up our unzipped Sleeping bag laying over both of us and I settled in next to him. "What're you readin'?" I picked up the book. "_Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_" I read the title before looking at Daryl. "Ain't many people who think uh Daryl Dixon as the readin' type." I teased and he rolled his eyes.

"Ain't may people left. Ones that are, they ain't gonna give a shit if'n I can read or not, so long as I do my part an' keep all them safe." He replied as he lay back on the sleeping pads.

"Oh please, it's not like you hate keepin' people safe." I lay down next to him, and scooted closer to him, hooking my leg over his, and wrapping my arm around his chest. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around me, letting me settle my head on his shoulder as he looked down at me. "'Sides that, you're good at it." I pointed out and he nodded.

"Ain't much I am good at, but that's one of 'em." He shrugged and I rolled my eyes.

"Quit feelin' sorry for yer'self. I can think uh plenty you're more'n good at." I winked at him him. He snorted before leaned up and kissed his cheek. He looked down at me before turning slightly, making it easier for him to kiss me. I smiled as he buried his hand in my hair, parting my lips slightly as he deepened the kiss.

The next morning I woke up to Glenn walking over to wake us up. "Oh come on guys, we said no sex." Glenn groaned when he saw we were both topless. "If me and Maggie can't-"

"You gonna stop us?" Daryl scoffed and I rolled my eyes.

"Keep your pants on Glenn." I groaned as I wrapped Daryl's shirt around myself. "We didn't."

"Whatcha gotta tell him for?" Daryl joked and I shook my head as I pushed his shoulder lightly. "Why're you still here?" Daryl asked looking at Glenn.

"Rick wants to talk to you."

"Alright, alright." Daryl nodded as he stood up. "Gimme a clean shirt." He requested as I dug through my bag for something to wear. I grabbed a shirt out of his bag and threw it to him. "I said a clean one." He sighed and I looked up at him.

"Honey it's got sleeves, and it ain't covered in walker blood, that's about as clean as our clothes get." I told him and he shrugged before pulling the shirt on. He stepped into his boots and laced them quickly before dropping to one knee beside me, he put his hand on the back of my head and pulled me into a kiss, then stood up.

"Next time let 'em think I'm getting' some when he ain't huh?" he asked and then left without waiting for an answer. I rolled my eyes and a moment later Maggie walked in as I clipped my bra.

"Why do you and Daryl get to do it when we don't?" she whined as she started to help me roll up our sleeping pads.

"We ain't." I shook my head. "I mean, we woulda-"

"If you coulda got away with it, why didn't you?" she scoffed and I laughed.

"Believe it or not, that's not what's most important to us." I told her and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh please," she scoffed. "You threw up again didn't you?"

"Like a four year old with the flu." I nodded and she leaned over to press her hand against my forehead.

"You don't feel very warm… How do you feel?"

"Eugh." I flopped face down on the sleeping pad with my butt sticking in the air.

"Get up kiddo." Cal swatted my rear end making me jump to the side.

"Where we going?"

"There's a general store 'cross the street, we need a team to hit that. You, Maggie and Glenn."

"What's Daryl doing?" I asked.

"Him, me an' T-Dog are hitting the gun shop, see if we can find any ammo, need anythin'?"

"Ammo, and a new cleanin' kit."

"Right, okay, anythin' else?"

"Knife stone'd be nice… And some gun oil."

"Okay."

"What about the kids?"

"Oh yeah, the Lost Boys are going to go to the western wear shop, Lori and Carol are gonna be in the boutique place next door."

"What about my Dad and Parker?"

"Pharmacy." Hershel walked over to us and I smiled at him. "Anything you need?"

"Lizzie's been throwing up a lot." Maggie looked at me and Cal frowned as he started to kneel down next to me.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just need some Pepto Bismol or something."

"Pepto Bismol was created to help negative side effects of over indulgence in food and drink. Have you been drinking Lizzie?" Hershel asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Ain't been nothin' _to_ drink." I pointed out. "It's like when the apocalypse started, all of Georgia turned into a dry state."

"I'll try to find you some Dramamine." Hershel told me and I smiled at him.

"Thanks." I nodded before I sighed and then got up. I finished clearing up mine and Daryl's stuff and carried it to the RV and tossed it inside.

"Rifle Lizzie?" Glenn asked from inside the RV.

"No, I ain't got much ammo for it. Think I'm gonna stick to my crowbar." I nodded to him and he shrugged before picking up his axe. We had picked up new weapons in the town we had gone to after the farm incident.

"The general store is right there." Rick pointed it out to me. "From what I can tell there's only two doors, and the back door was blocked off by a big dumpster."

"The huge hole in the front window doesn't look too promising." I pointed out and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed. "You think you three can handle it?"

"Sure." I nodded. "But I hear the Lost Boys are goin' in that Western wear place, you sure you don't want me with them?"

"Beth is old enough." He reminded me and I nodded.

"Yeah I know but-"

"I'd rather have you on team Lovebird."

"I thought that was me and Daryl." I frowned and he scoffed making me smile. "Alright, fine, I'll keep an eye on the lovebirds." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey," I looked back at him. "You sure you're feeling up to it? I heard you last night."

"You know you should mention to Hershel that you need some more Ambien, you need to get more sleep." I told him as I strapped my knife to my waist.

"Yeah well, thing 'bout the end of the world, ain't gettin' enough fiber in my diet. Lack uh fiber makes ya sick, don't it Parker?" I asked the doctor who was walking by.

"Uh, that's usually the case, yeah." He nodded. "But with you lately, I'm more worried about-"

"You ain't gotta be worried about me, I'm fine." I cut him off, before looking at Rick. "Don't hold me back on this."

"I won't. Just, if you need to step back…"

"We goin' or what?" I asked and he sighed before nodding.

"Everyone remember what they're doing?" he asked and everyone nodded. "Okay, anyone need help, just shout." He told us before we broke off into our teams.

I watched as Glenn helped Maggie over the shards of glass still in the general store window, before offering his hand to me. I smiled and took his hand and let him help me before I turned and pushed the glass out with my foot. "You're sweet, but it'll take too much time if we actually find anythin' worth taking in here." I told him and he nodded.

"Oh my god, Lizzie, look at this." Maggie called me over after we swept the store. The entire personal care aisle was practically untouched.

"Damn." I muttered in awe as we stood there for a moment. "That is impressive."

"Right." She nodded, before we started throwing face wash, miniature shampoos, toothbrushes, mouthwash, body wash, some of those facial cleansing pad things Lori liked into the bag. I moved around, grabbing some canned items, tuna, beans, things like that, I got a whole good stash of dried noodles in a cup, and some peanut butter before I saw Maggie and Glenn kissing.

"Come on y'all, the sooner we get out of here, the better." I told them.

"Lizzie's right." Maggie sighed. "Besides, she's here."

"So, if I had to see her topless this morning- Ow!" he was cut off by Maggie thumping his shoulder.

"Oh please Glenn, don't be such a drama queen, ya only saw my back." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey Lizzie, check behind the counter for a gun." Maggie mentioned to me and I nodded.

"Good idea. Besides, only good thing in this store still is behind the counter." I grinned as I looked at the wall of alcohol.

"Oh god, do not go overboard on the alcohol." Glenn sighed and I gasped, pretending to be offended.

"Why Glenn, what ever could you mean?" I asked as I started to step around the counter. The smell of the dead clerk hit me before the sight. I fell to my knees, gagging and Maggie rushed over to me quickly, Glenn close behind her as I dry heaved a few times. I spit, having nothing else in my system to throw up, before Maggie helped me up. "I'm fine, I'm fine." I groaned as I waved her off.

"Are you sure?" she asked and I nodded.

"Yes, I'm good." I held my hands up. "I'm okay." They stepped back and I nodded. "Jus' grab me a water from the fridge, yeah?" I asked Glenn who nodded.

"No problem." He told me before shooting Maggie a look.

"Look y'all, it ain't nothin' a good drink can't fix. Disinfectant you know," I told them as I picked up a bottle of whisky. "This'll kill that bug." I winked.

"Oh, we got tampons! I know that's been on Carol's list."

"Get pads too, not everyone likes tampons." I told her.

"Who doesn't like tampons?" she asked and I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh, right. God she's so young." She sighed and I shrugged.

"I was eleven."

"I don't need to be hearing this." Glenn sighed as he handed Maggie a bottle of water and then handed one to me.

"Yeah well we didn't need to hear you say you saw Lizzie topless, now did we?" Maggie asked and he rolled his eyes. I was about to take a sip of the whisky when my eyes landed on something right next to the condoms behind the counter. I lowered the bottle and then licked my lips as I stared at the box of home pregnancy tests.

"Fuck." I whispered before looking at Glenn and Maggie who were setting a crate of water bottles outside of the store. I grabbed the box quickly and threw it into one of my bags, before putting the cap on the whiskey and throwing it into the bag too. I helped load all of the stuff from the general store onto the RV, leaving it in the kitchen area for Carol to sort through before everyone else started coming back.

"Hey Daryl, gimme a hand!" Sophia called to him as she dragged a cardboard box over to the RV.

"Where's your spotter?" he asked and she rolled her eyes before nodding to the store where both Carl and Hunter were talking to Beth. "Hunter!" he called and Hunter jumped. "Yer a shit spotter man." He told him as he jogged over.

"All you guys were out of your stores." Hunter shrugged. "No walkers were around."

"That's not the point." Carol told him and he sighed before looking at Sophia.

"Sorry Sophia."

"Don't let it happen again." She told him sternly and I smiled as I stepped off the RV.

"Here, let me help." I picked up the box and groaned lightly. "God damn guys, what's in here?" I asked.

"Denim." Hunter told me. "Long sleeved shirts, things like that."

"Good job guys." I nodded. "Daryl's running low on shirts with sleeves."

"We know." Beth smiled. "I don't know what he does with them."

"You and me both honey." I shook my head as I looked at Daryl. He looked less than amused but smiled at me. I smiled back at him and he scoffed lightly before going to help Parker and Hershel. The road had been getting colder and icier so a week before Daryl had put the bike into the RV to keep until the spring, we had been going down the road at a pretty high speed when we hit some ice, Daryl, thank god, hadn't panicked and slammed on his brakes, that would have sent us out of control. We swerved a little, and I had clung to him even tighter, but he got control of the bike, and pulled to the side slowly, before wrapping his arms around me. I held onto him tightly as everyone else pulled over and asked what had happened. It was then he decided to put the bike in the RV for the winter. Parker started riding with Cal and Hunter and Daryl and I drove the RV for the most part.

Sometimes Carol or Lori would spend time in the RV, or Carol and Lori and the kids when they were trying to teach them, Daryl would drive, I'd sit with him, we'd debate over which CD to re listen to, and Carol would yell at us to turn down the music, she was trying to teach the kids life skills. I tried to teach them life skills once, but after my lesson on stitching open wounds with dental floss, Lori made me stop. After we all got everything settled in the RV, Carol offered to ride with us and help me get things settled away.

"Lizzie, I couldn't find any Dramamine, but this Ginger tea should help." Hershel walked over to me and handed me a box of ginger tea.

"Thanks Hershel." I smiled at him and he nodded.

"Let me know if it persists." He told me and I nodded.

"I will." I nodded. I took the tea onto the RV and put it on the counter while everyone was getting ready to go. Carol and Sophia climbed into the RV with me and Daryl, and so did Cal and Hunter. "Who's driving the Mustang?"

"Parker." Cal told me. "He's riding with Hershel, Beth's kinda cranky apparently, Hershel don't wanna deal with it, he's talkin' doc shop with Parker." Doc shop was a phrase Cal made up to say Hershel and Parker were trading stories. "You cool with this Daryl?"

"Sure, you can drive." Daryl tossed the keys to Cal who grinned.

"No problem. We good?"

"We're good." Daryl nodded and I paused.

"Wait, I forgot something." I suddenly remembered and Cal rolled his eyes.

"Quick." He told me and I ran back into the antique shop. I ran to the back corner where Daryl and I had slept and picked up the book Daryl had been reading, before turning and running back to the RV. I hopped on and closed the door behind me. "We good?" Cal asked and I nodded.

"We're good." I told him. He rolled his eyes as Sophia sat down on the couch with Carol and I went to where Daryl was sitting at the table, I slid in next to him and he looked down at me before I handed him his book.

"Thought I weren't the readin' type?" he asked and I frowned before I gently kissed his jaw.

"I said some people wouldn't think'a you as the readin' type; I didn't say me." I reminded him. He looked down at me with a small smile before looking behind us. Carol was busy telling Sophia something, and Hunter was sitting next to Cal who was too busy driving to pay us any attention. He kissed me quickly and I smiled before he stood up. "Gonna go work on my bike." He announced.

"Eugh, if you're doin' that, close the door and open the windows back there, I don't wanna get the kids high off them fumes." I told him and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes your highness." He said sarcastically, though I think he knew I was just giving him a cover to close the door so he could read for a bit while we drove.

We had been driving for awhile and Carol and I were putting things away while she talked to me and Sophia. "Was there anything in that clothing shop?" I asked and Carol sighed.

"Nothing really practical," she admitted. "I just, it's so weird thinking about how we used to dress, and how clothes appeared to us before, all fashion, not a whole lot of function." She was telling me and I chuckled.

"I know." I nodded. "It's weird, innit?"

"Well, when I was in the store, I saw a thong with studs on it." She told me. "Who would wear something like that?"

"You'd be surprised." I muttered and she shot me a curious look. "Not me, no, no, girls I worked with though, used ta wear them short leather pants, things stickin over the top, thought it got 'em better tips." I shrugged. "All I know is I made more tips'n' any'a them, and people didn't generally see me out from behind the bar."

"That's because you supplied the with alcohol, the girls just carried it around and sometimes spit in it when they were pissed." Cal called back.

"What, you think I didn't?" I asked. "I had this shot glass I'd eat somethin' like onions or somethin' hot, like tobacco, and I'd spit in it, and when some sonuvabitch started treatin' me like shit, I'd pour 'em a shot in it, and say some girl sent it to 'em, that way, they'd make eye contact with the girl, then do the shot." I nodded and Cal started laughing hysterically.

"You didn't never do that to me did you?" Cal asked.

"That depends, you ever try ta stick your hands down my pants for no reason?" I asked and he scoffed. "Then no." Carol laughed as she continued putting away things, and then paused, I looked over at her and saw her holding the box of pregnancy tests. She looked at it and then at me and I stared at her for a long moment.

"That happen to you often?" she asked. "Men trying to do that?"

"Not too often." I shook my head as she caught my eye. She handed the box to me and I took it and then quickly stuck it under my arm. Her eyes flickered from me to the door to the bathroom and I sighed.

I opened the door to the bedroom and saw Daryl laying on the bed, reading his book. "Y'all right?" he asked and I nodded.

"Just gotta pee." I pointed to the door. He raised his eyebrows before looking back at the book. I went into the bathroom and closed the door and stared at the box for a moment. I finally sighed and then opened it and tore open one of the plastic envelopes holding the pregnancy test. I unzipped my pants and sat down and pulled the cap off of the test before looking at the back of the box "Easy to use, remove cap and urinate on absorbent end for five seconds," I muttered as I read the back of the box. "Accurate results in only 90 seconds, you can read the results as soon as the line appears in the window." I sighed, before doing my part afterwards I put the stick in the sink and stood up before flushing the toilet.

I picked up the stick and looked at the little window.

Nothing had happened yet.

I paced as well as I could in the little bathroom.

Two steps to the shower.

Two steps to the sink.

Two steps to the shower.

Two steps to the sink.

Those eight steps seemed to take an hour, and yet when I looked at the stick nothing had happened.

I could feel my chest tightening, my breath getting harder to breathe, I groaned as I ran a hand through my hair, god what if- but we had been careful.

I looked at the stick again, still nothing.

I cracked my knuckles and cracked my neck and then looked again.

Nothing.

I was about to run screaming out of the bathroom shrieking and pulling my hair out when very faintly at first a blue line appeared on the window, and then a second one.

I stared at the test for a moment before I went flying to the floor where I had dropped the box. I thumped my knee against the toilet, and my head on the edge of the shower making me let out an involuntary "Fuck!"

"You okay?" Daryl called and I groaned as I rubbed my head.

"Fine." I called back and I heard him get up.

"You sure?" he asked from right outside the door. I quickly sat up on the toilet and put my foot against the door.

"I'm sure, I'm fine, everything's good." I told him and he stood there for a moment before walking back to the bed. I listened to the squeak of the mattress springs and then I let out a small sigh and picked up the box off the floor. I read the back and then dropped it to the floor again. "Fuck." I whispered.

I hid the box in the cabinet where the women kept their tampons and lady stuff, the cabinet I knew none of the men would go through, and I stuck the stick in my pocket. I walked out of the bathroom what felt like an eternity after I had walked in, though in reality it was only a few minutes.

"Y'all right?" Daryl asked and I nodded.

"Hit my knee on the toilet." I shrugged and he nodded, it was a common occurrence.

"Look kinda pale." He mentioned and I shrugged. "Sure you're feelin' alright?"

"I uh…" I shrugged. "I threw up again in the store." I admitted and he sighed before scooting to the side of the bed. I walked over to it and climbed on next to him, he wrapped his arms around me and I buried my face in his chest.

"Keep getting' sick like this, I'm gonna make you talk to Hershel." He told me and I sighed.

"I know." I mumbled into his chest.

"Jus' try ta get some sleep huh?" he said into my hair and I nodded. He kissed the top of my head and I shut my eyes, all of the pressure in the world it seemed resting on my left hip where that god damn strip was. Lord only knows how I was finally going to bring it up to him.

At that moment it seemed like there was more I didn't know then stuff I did.

I didn't know if the test was right, and if it was, I didn't know his view on kids, I mean he seemed to like the ones around camp, but what if he was the sort of guy who could not stand the sound of babies crying.

I didn't know if I'd carry the baby to term, and if I did, how would we care for a baby?

Would Daryl leave when I told him?

That last question made me look up at him; he had his arm around me still, but was using his other hand to read his book. Okay, maybe I did know the answer to that one; He wasn't going to leave me after everything we'd been through… Probably.

There was two things I did know at this point:

1) In the middle of the god damn zombie apocalypse, I, Eliza Dianne Mason was pregnant with Daryl Dixon's baby.

2) I had no idea how I was going to tell him, and for the first time in awhile I was scared to death.

* * *

_**Whaaaaat?! Who saw that coming? Okay I know at least one of you (writergrrrl, I'm talking to you) saw that coming, but still! In the first chapter! You didn't see that coming, right? **_

_**Oh hey, question, I've been thinking about doing an alternate universe story with Daryl and Lizzie of the walker apocalypse had never happened. Like if Daryl had gone back to the Silver Spoon and struck up a conversation with Lizzie, a story about them, but without walkers, what do you guys think? Would you read it? **_

_**Aaaaanyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Rusty Cage, Please don't forget to review!** _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey y'all, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone whose favorited and followed the story, and a special thanks to everyone whose reviewed! Thank you! Sorry it took me a little time to get this chapter out, but I hope you like it! **_

_**Disclaimer: I only own my characters!** _

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The woods were silent, silent, and yet full of sound, bull frogs were croaking, birds were chirping, somewhere a Cicada was singing somewhere in the distance. I felt something tough my elbow and I looked down at the bag of jerky Cal was pushing towards me. I slit my hand into it and pulled out a piece before ripping off a strip with my teeth. I chewed on the Honey BBQ jerky, which surprised me because I knew Cal wasn't too big on Honey BBQ; he usually went for the Fiery Hot Cayenne jerky. I tore off another strip and the adjusted slightly.

It was a hot day and we were both covered in our camouflage gear, I was covered in dirt and sweat but had my rifle pointed at an area we had reason to believe the deer used pretty often. After tracking and choosing our spot we had lucked out finding an old deer stand. Whoever had put it up obviously hadn't used it in awhile.

It was close to an hour later when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I looked to the side as what looked like an eight point buck walked out of the brush. I kicked Cal who looked over at the buck and then at me as I lifted my scope to my eye. He nodded to me and I nodded back as I rested my finger on the trigger. The buck was walking around, and I turned my rifle slightly, following it, before it stopped. The stand creaked as I shifted my weight slightly, and the buck looked up, looking to the sides. A small smile made its way across my lips as I got my target, and…

A gunshot echoed through the forest and the buck fell to the ground. He struggled for a moment, trying to get back up as I took aim, and then fired again. He fell to the ground, blood seeping from his wounds as Cal crawled off the stand. I handed my gun down to him and then climbed down, before walking over to the buck.

"Cut 'is throat." Cal instructed me and I drew my knife and stepped over to the buck. He grabbed the antlers, a ten point buck, better than I had thought, and held his head at an angle, making it easier for me to pull the serrated edge of my knife against the deer's throat, cutting through fur, skin, nerves and blood vessels.

It was then I noticed the woods were quiet. The birds stopped chirping, the bugs were quiet, even the cicada was quiet. I looked down at the deer that was now bleeding out and then at the rope Cal was hanging from the tree. I shut my eyes for a moment, listening to the silence.

When I woke up Daryl was sleeping next to me, he had his arms wrapped around me, his hand resting on my stomach. I groaned softly, before trying to move. "Where ya goin'?" Daryl mumbled.

"Bathroom." I told him and he let go of me. I got off of him and he opened his eyes lightly.

"You gon' puke?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay." He nodded before shutting his eyes again and rolling over so he was facing the wall. I walked out of the bedroom and shut the door behind me, before realizing we were stopped, and the light was getting darker. We had been driving all day by the looks of it.

"We're just getting gas," Carol told me when she noticed I was out of the room. "Cal and T-Dog took the Lost Boys." She explained and I nodded as I opened a bottle of water and took a sip. "Did you tell him?" I scoffed lightly. "Lizzie, I know it's hard, but you need to tell him," she insisted. "You'll feel better."

"What part about that is supposed to make me feel better Carol?" I looked at her sharply. "I ain't never wanted this, my life was shit before all this happened, can you fucking believe that? I can honestly say now that the fucking walkers have taken over, I'm a better person? What kind of person does that make me ta think somethin' like that? I ain't the type of person ta- ta- I don't even have a momma. I don't know how ta be one. I don't- An' ain't nothin' I can do about it." I shrugged. "It ain't like Lori's method woulda worked, ain't like there's another way of doin' it now. But what if I decide I want it? What happens then? I decide I wanna do this, and then I get bit, or what if I-" my voice cracked. "What if somethin' happens?" I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"Lizzie-"

"An' what about Daryl?" I nodded towards the room where Daryl was still sleeping. "We haven't talked about that… We've been careful… What if he doesn't want this, what if he decides it's too much- If we're too much…" I trailed off before turning around, and putting my pals flat on the counter, supporting myself, keeping my back to her so she couldn't see the tears rolling down my face. The whiskey was still sitting on the counter so I grabbed it, before Carol moved forward and wrestled it out of my hand.

"You are going to be a mother now," she told me sternly I opened my mouth to protest and she shook her head. "Until you know for sure- and by that I don't mean another pregnancy test, I mean, unless something happens, you're going to start acting like it. No more of this," she held up the bottle. "No more smoking, you said you never had a real mother? Well, you just got one. And I'm going to make sure you don't mess this up, this isn't about you anymore Lizzie, this is about your baby. You said you weren't sure if you wanted this, well you just referred to yourself as we, you and the baby. You know what I think? You do want the baby and its scaring you." She looked at me and I looked down.

"I don't know what I want." I told her softly.

"I think you do." She put her hands on my shoulders. "I think you're just scared to admit it. Admitting it can make it so much more real." She nodded. "I know. Trust me, I know." She pulled me into a tight hug. "And as for Daryl leaving," she sighed after the hug ended, keeping her hands on my shoulders. "Honey if you ever noticed the way he looks at you, if you saw him when you went to find Hunter and Sophia, or the night we lost the farm, then you know that leaving would never cross his mind. It never has, and it never will. I think the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be." She told me before the door to the RV opened. I put my hands on my hips as Sophia, Hunter and Cal walked back in.

"We've got gas, and Hunter tasted gasoline for the first time." Cal announced and Carol winced before handing him my water bottle. I opened my mouth to protest, but realized something.

"Shit." I muttered as I put my hands over my pockets. Carol looked at me as I felt my pockets and then looked at the floor.

"Everything okay?" Cal asked.

"Fine, I just… Dropped something." I muttered.

"Well, hope it wasn't important, because if it fell out the door, you ain't gettin' it back." He plopped down in the driver's seat. "Is Daryl still working on his bike?"

"Yeah- No- he uh, had a long shift last night, he's gettin' some sleep."

"Huh, lucky him." Cal muttered. "We all good?" he called back to us.

"Yup." Sophia smiled as she sat at the table.

I nodded to Cal as I wiped my face and he nodded before turning to the road and starting the RV up. "I'll be right back." I muttered to Carol before going to the door to the bedroom. I paused and looked back at her. "I… I don't know," I sighed and then nodded. "Thanks."

"That's what mothers do sweetie." She smiled and I returned the smile slightly before turning and walking into the bedroom. I shut the door behind me and looked at Daryl who was still asleep, his right arm tucked under his head, his left arm draped over his stomach. I knelt down and started to look at the floor, but because of the fading light it was hard to see. I felt around the floor as Cal started driving, I could feel the RV start moving, shaking a little as it did, before Daryl's legs swung into my line of sight.

When I finally looked up at him, he was sitting up, his left hand on his knee, his right hand holding the very thing I was looking for. Nothing was said between us as I sat there on my knees, on the floor staring at him, and he sat on the bed, staring at the strip of plastic. It felt like an hour, in reality it was maybe a minute or two.

"Dare-" I finally broke the silence and his eyes shot to me. I didn't know what else to say, I just sat there with my mouth open for a moment before closing it.

"What's it say?" he asked lowly and I swallowed before responding.

"It says I'm… Pregnant." I admitted. Daryl was silent for another long moment, staring at the strip again, staring, but not really seeing. After that moment he stood up. "Daryl-" I stood up and he held his hands up.

"Not now Lizzie," he told me as I went to touch his shoulder. "Jus- Not now." He shook his head, before walking out of the bedroom, leaving me there. I sat there silently for what seemed like hours, but was only a couple minutes. When I felt the RV pulling to a stop I stood up, and walked out of the bedroom like nothing was wrong. Carol shot me a curious look, but I ignored it as I walked out of the RV to see where we were stopped. We were at the top of a long driveway behind a gate.

"What's down there?" I asked and Rick shrugged.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Hershel told me and I nodded.

"I think we need to send a team down." Rick told us. "Daryl, would you and Lizzie mind checking it out?"

"Liz ain't goin'." Daryl said quickly without looking at me and I frowned.

"Still not feeling great?" Rick asked me and I smiled simply as I looked at him. "That's fine Lizzie, um, Cal, think you can go with Daryl?"

"No problem." Cal nodded. He looked over to me and I turned to the RV where Carol was standing. I walked back to the RV and stepped inside.

"That didn't exactly go as planned." I muttered as I dug around in the closet for something.

"Well, he knows, that's what's important." She told me and I shrugged.

"I mean, I guess, but he won't even look at me now."

"He'll come around." She assured me. I pulled a pair of binoculars from the closet and walked back outside before climbing onto the RV.

"What do you see?" Rick asked as I looked in the direction of where the driveway was going.

"Hard ta see without light, but it looks like a building." I told him. "Must be a house out there."

"Who knows how many walkers are in there?" Beth spoke up.

"We aren't anywhere near a town, this looks like the only place around for miles, we should take it." T-Dog told Rick who nodded

"I agree with T-Dog." He told us. "Cal, you and Daryl go check it out first."

"Got it." Daryl nodded before going into the RV. He came out with his jacket and crossbow, his gun tucked into the waistband of his pants, while Cal got the mustang and was pulling it up to the gate when suddenly a voice rang out through the silence.

"Um, hello out there." Everyone looked around, unsure as to where the voice came from at first before Lori went over to a intercom near the gate.

"Hello?" she asked into it.

"Wow, for a second there I didn't think we were seeing things right." The male voice admitted through the intercom.

"How many are you?" Rick asked through the intercom.

"There's three of us." The man replied. "My name is Evan."

"I'm Rick, Rick Grimes." Rick told him. "My group, we're just looking for somewhere safe to stay for the night."

"Well say no more." Evan responded cheerily. "I'll open the gate, you guys just drive right down."

"Is he serious?" T-Dog asked, before the gate slowly started to open.

"Apparently." Lori looked excited.

"Don't get too excited," Rick told us. "We don't know these people; we don't know what they want."

"Rick's right." Cal nodded. "We should go in, but don't let your guard down." He looked over at me and I held my thumb up before I got into the driver's seat of the RV. I started the RV up, and slowly followed the Mustang, Rick's car was behind me, and T-Dog was taking up the rear in the truck. We got to the bottom of the hill where a house was nestled among the trees.

I waited for Rick to get out of his car first before I followed. The front door to the house opened and two men and a girl walked out. The two men looked to be in their late forties or early fifties and the girl in her late teens to early twenties. "Evan?" Rick looked between the two men before the one with curly brown hair and glasses stepped forward.

"That's me." He smiled as he waved to us. "Welcome." He turned and gestured to the other man, a tall, Nordic looking blonde who stepped up next to Evan. "This is Sven, and our daughter Abbie." He gestured to the girl.

"I'm Rick, these are my people." He gestured to us. "How- How do you still have…" he looked at the lit up house.

"Solar panels." Sven spoke up. "My idea."

"Our water runs off a well too," Evan told us. "So please, feel free to take a shower."

"No offense," Rick was saying to Evan about half an hour later. "But this place is too good to be true."

"I assure you, it's not." Evan told him. "Sure, we've had our share of troubles like everyone else, we haven't heard from our other daughter Grey since before it happened…" he looked down, deep in thought for a moment, before looking up again. "Anyway, that's nothing. Tell me about your group." He smiled at Rick.

"There's a lot to tell." Rick sighed. "We've been all over Georgia, we had a farm for awhile, but a huge herd of walkers came through, ran us out."

"And you've been moving ever since?" Abbie asked.

"Yeah." Lori nodded.

"That's what we should have done," Abbie looked at her fathers. "We should have gone out there."

"Oh excuse me little miss spoiled over there," Sven rolled his eyes. "You really think leaving the house is a good idea?"

"It's better than doing nothing!" she insisted.

"Guys," Evan smiled. "Let's just agree to disagree."

"Do you have a bathroom?" I asked and Sven nodded.

"Sure thing, there's one right around the corner, to the left." He pointed me in the right direction. The bathroom was beautiful- which wasn't to say the entire house wasn't a work of art, because it was. The theme of the bathroom seemed to be black granite. The floor was black granite, the counter and backsplash were black granite, the sink was black granite and the toilet was black. I don't know if there was such thing as a black granite toilet, but it was just black. After going to the bathroom and washing my hands I looked at myself in the mirror. I was a wreck. Aside from looking windswept, my hair was unruly, I hadn't plucked my eyebrows in awhile, and I was dirty and worn out looking.

I walked out of the bathroom to find Sven and Evan cooking and talking to people in the group, while everyone seemed relaxing.

"Hey, I knew I knew who you were!" Lori said suddenly as she held up a book from a bookcase. "Sven Roberts, you've written books on child development for years! I read your books when I was pregnant with Carl."

"_From Zygote to Aaron_?" I read the title of the book.

"That was my first book," Sven nodded as he looked at it. "Of course I updated it regularly, keeping up with medicinal science and whatnot. It's all about the development from zygote to being born, and then goes through the first few months of life with your new little bundle of joy."

"Yeah, I read it when I was pregnant with Sophia." Carol nodded. "I also read the other ones."

"I'm glad you liked them." Sven smiled.

"So, what, it's like What to Expect When You're Expecting?" I asked as I looked at the book.

"I liked it better than What to Expect. I think any new mother should read it." She gave me a knowing look and I shrugged before looking at Lori.

"Hear that, you should read this." I handed her the book and Carol sighed.

Evan and Sven made a dinner of vegetables from their garden in the back, Soon everyone was pitching in to help, while they were distracted I found myself back in the living room, at the bookshelf. I pulled down the book and was looking at the cover when someone walked in. "Thinking about having kids?" Sven asked and I shook my head.

"Never gave it much thought." I admitted. "'Till today."

"You're pregnant." He looked me over. "Does anyone know?"

"Two people. I- I ain't gonna tell the others, not yet." I shook my head.

"I understand." He nodded. "What's your name again?"

"Lizzie." I told him.

"You and Lori are both expecting."

"Yeah. She don't know either. Jus' Daryl and Carol." I nodded.

"Daryl is the intimidating one with the crossbow."

"That's Daryl." I nodded.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What's your plan?"

"Y'all want an honest answer, or the one that's gonna make me sound like I know what I'm doin'?"

"Honey, you're freaking out right now. No answer is going to make you sound like you know what you're doing."

"Thanks." I muttered. "I don't have a plan. I just found out today." I told him honestly. "I guess… My only plan is not to get killed."

"That's a good plan." He nodded.

"Hey, Elle," Cal walked into the living room. "Come on and check this out."

"Be right there." I nodded to him. He nodded back and looked at Sven for a moment before leaving.

"How are y'all still here?"

"A lot of work." He told me. "Evan and I have been together for twenty three years. Not all of it was good. We worked like hell to keep our family together. Not even the end of the world is going to change that." I smiled lightly. "You'll make it work."

"I know." I nodded. "There's no question about that. My only concern is, will it be with him, or without him?" I looked at Sven who sighed and walked over to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave them a slight squeeze.

That night after dinner Evan and Sven started organizing where everyone would sleep until they got to me and Daryl. "We'll just stay in the RV." I told them.

"No, Lizzie, I'll stay in the RV with the Lost Boys." Carol offered. "We'll have an adventure, right guys?" she smiled at them.

"There's a room out above the pool house you're more than welcome to stay in." Sven offered. "It's quite comfortable." I looked over at Daryl who had his hands in his pockets before he nodded.

"Well, thank you, but Carol, are you sure?"

"Yes, you two deserve a real bed." She smiled.

I went to the RV and found Daryl digging through the cabinets. "What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Merle's stash, where'd we put it?" he asked and I walked over to a loose spot in the wall paneling and pulled it back, I reached my arm inside and pulled the bag out and handed it over to him. "If them kids are gonna be sleepin' in here, I ain't leavin' 'em with this crap." He held the bag up and then stuck it in his backpack.

"Yeah, because the kids are going to be ripping the walls down and taking strange pills they find." I joked. He didn't say anything, just started putting his things into his backpack. I threw my things into my backpack and started to pick it up, when Daryl looked at me.

"What're you doin'?" he asked.

"Getting' my stuff together." I frowned.

"Liz, ya can't be-" he sighed and walked over, taking the backpack from me.

"Okay, look, I'm pregnant, I'm not completely useless." I told him. "Everything was fine before I found out, why does it have to be different now?"

"It is different, everythin's different." He protested.

"Why?" I asked and he opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by someone knocking on the door.

"Hey guys." Carol stepped onto the RV. "Evan and Sven say the guest house is ready for you."

"Thanks." Daryl nodded as he stepped towards the door with my backpack and his, and then paused. "There's guns in the closet and the cabinet, the crowbar is in the kitchen cabinet, and there's a bowie in the bathroom." He told her and she nodded. He stepped off the RV and she looked at me.

"Apparently he's very concerned about the safety of the kids in the RV." I shrugged and she smiled.

"Well, good night you two." She smiled and I sighed.

"You mean three?" I whispered and she shrugged.

"Whichever you prefer." She agreed before I stepped off the RV. I followed Daryl around the back of the house where there was a large stone pool area, across from the pool there was a large two story building, with stairs going to the second story. Daryl was waiting under the stairs, watching my every move as I walked across the yard. We walked upstairs silently, he held the door open for me and I stepped inside, first we were in a small hallway, a place where people took off their coats and hung them up as well as kicked off their shoes. Daryl leaned his crossbow against the wall next to the door and I slipped off my shoes before stepping onto thick white carpet.

I turned on the light and we found ourselves in a beige colored room, with tall walls and large windows, covered by thick white curtains. There was a large, queen sized bed against one wall with a black iron frame, and at the end of it a yellow couch. There was an entertainment system on the wall opposite of the one with the bed, and a dresser on one wall with a large mirror hanging over it. I walked around the bed, towards a door and opened it; there was a good sized bathroom, with a bathtub, which made me smile.

"You know," I told him as I turned on the tub and felt the water. It warmed up pretty quickly so I closed off the drain and let the tub start to fill up. I opened a cabinet next to the sink and found it full of different bath oils and salts as well as wash cloths, towels and some little bottles of shampoo and conditioner, like from hotels. I opened one tub of bath salts and smelled it, but put it back. "I don't expect you ta be jumpin' for joy or nothin'." I told him, as I picked up a wash cloth and tossed it into the tub. "But I just-" I turned around to see Daryl standing in the doorway.

"Just what?" he asked.

"I just need to know that… This ain't gonna change us."

"'Course it's gonna change us." He told me and I stepped forward.

"I mean us," I told him as I touched his hands. "I don't want the baby ta come between us."

"That ain't gonna happen."

"It feels like it already is." I told him and he sighed before pulling the strip out of his pocket.

"I just-how're we gonna do this Liz? I ain't never thought 'bout kids 'fore, but with you…" he shook his head. "Ain't no kids needs ta be brought into this." He told me. "This." He gestured to the room. "This is the sorta life a kid needs ta be brought up in. Not what neither of us had, not the life we got now." He told me. "Somethin' stable, and how're we gonna do that if we're always runnin'?"

"What if we found somewhere safe?" I asked.

"The farm was safe, remember?"

"No, we just let ourselves think it was safe, what if we find somewhere really safe?"

"That don't even matter anyhow, 'cuz even if we do find somewhere safe, what happens when you've got a baby and we've gotta move suddenly?" he asked.

"Daryl, I don't know what you want me to say." I told him softly. "It's not like we have many options these days." I pointed out and he sighed before nodding.

"I know." He agreed, before he cupped my face. "I ain't…" he paused. "I can't hardly keep you safe. How do I keep you and a baby good?"

"You won't be doing it alone." I told him and he looked down at my stomach for a moment. "Daryl," I touched his hand. "I need to know if you're good with this. I can't spend the next however long not knowing."

"Course I'm okay with it." He looked at me instantly. "Kinda question is that?"

"Well you ignored me for the past couple hours after finding out." I pointed out.

"Jus' cuz I'm freaked out some don't mean nothin'." He told me. "That's my kid in there." His voice wavered lightly as he looked down at my stomach again and then back to me, a small smile spreading across his lips. "It's our kid." He put his hand on the back of my neck, before pulling me into a kiss.

After I had taken a bath I was laying on the bed in my underwear and a tee shirt. Daryl had just gotten out of the shower, and was walking into the room in his underwear, drying off his hair with a towel. "We said no secrets right?" I asked and he looked at me before nodding. "I'm fuckin' scared."

"You think I ain't?" he asked.

"I just- I don't want to end up like my momma."

"You ain't." he told me.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because first off, you want this kid." He told me. "You may think you're having it just 'cuz you're havin' it, but I can see it in yer eyes, you want it." He walked over to me. "You wanna care for a little baby and teach it how ta be a person and shit." He told me. "Yer momma never wanted that." He pushed my tee shirt over my stomach so he could look at it. "This kid's got two parents that want that."

"You want that?" I asked and he gave me a small smile.

"No secrets." He reminded me. "Wanna show 'em how ta hunt, how ta do all the shit we know how ta do." He nodded as he ran his calloused fingers over my abdomen, eliciting a shiver from me.

"Yeah?" I asked and he smirked as he lifted my legs up from behind my knees.

"If it's a boy I'm gonna teach 'em how ta be a man." He told me, before leaning down and kissing my lips gently.

"If it's a girl?" I asked.

"If it's a girl," he continued. "I'm gonna teach 'er how ta stick up to the boys. Not to take no shit. Be like her momma." His thumbs stroked my inner thighs and I groaned softly.

He hesitated as I hooked one of my legs over his waist and I frowned lightly. "What?"

"Nothin' I jus' I don't wanna… You know." He flushed lightly and I smiled realizing what he meant.

"Sven lent me his book, sex won't hurt the baby." I assured him.

"You're sure?" he asked sounding worried and I nodded before reaching over to the nightstand. I picked up the book and opened it to the page I had marked. He read the section I pointed out to him and then closed the book before looking back to me. "Carol knows don't she?" he asked and I nodded.

"Don't worry about Carol right now," I told him before kissing his jaw lightly.

"Yes ma'am." He teased lightly before he reached over and turned off the light next to the bed.

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**_Seems like they've found somewhere safe, and resolved some issues about the baby... Or have they? _**

**_Do you really think it's going to be that easy? _**

**_Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please don't forget to review!_ **


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey y'all, sorry I know you were probably expecting a chapter, but this is just an announcement letting you know that there's a poll up on my homepage titled "What should Lizzie and Daryl's baby be?" That's right guys, I want your opinion, so please take a minute and vote! Your vote could change the outcome of the entire story!**_

**_Thanks for reading, and don't worry the new chapter should be out soon!_ **


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey y'all, I know it's been awhile since I updated but I've been having a hard time getting this story to where I want it to go. But I think I've figured it out, and as a reward for you guys being so patient, here is a chapter of smut, and fluff. **_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own my characters, not any of the characters from the Walking Dead are mine, though I did meet Jon Bernthal (Shane) That's right, I met Shane! I met him at my work! He came up to see the horses, and I got to hang out and talk to him for awhile! I was really good too, I waited until after he left before I fangirled. Oh yeah, and Danai Gurira (Michonne)** **too! (I didn't get a picture with her though). I seriously love my job, but I'm still waiting for the day Norman Reedus comes up. **_

_**But, ahem, I digress... Enjoy the chapter! **_

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When I woke up the next morning Daryl was still in bed, I was resting on his chest, he had his arm wrapped around me, and was playing with my hair, running his fingers through it, and every so often he'd curl it around one finger. "You're still in bed." I looked back at him.

"First time we been in a real bed since the farm." He shrugged as I sighed.

"Jesus…" I breathed. "That's right. When you got shot." I brushed my thumb over the small scar I knew was from the bolt that had gone right through him, and he looked down at me. He brushed the hair from my eyes and I smiled before leaning up to kiss him. He smiled, a real genuine smile and I grinned before kissing him again. I paused, hearing a splashing and listened as I heard the kids laughing. "Isn't it too cold to be swimming?"

"Pool's got black stone all through it, absorbs sunlight, makes the pool warm year round." He explained and I nodded before he flipped me over, I laughed and wrapped my arms around him, letting him kiss me deeply. His hands ran down my body, one of them pushing the hem of my shirt up, I raised my arms and let him pull my shirt off, before he kissed my collarbone, I ran my fingers through his hair as he lightly kissed down my body. He got to my stomach and paused before looking up at me. I watched him as he leaned down and gently kissed my lower stomach, before sweet Daryl turned back into feisty Daryl, he got between my legs and gave me a devilish grin before he yanked my panties down my legs, he spread my legs, positioning them on either side of him, and looked up at me again with the smirk he always gave me before-

"_Uhnh- Dare…_" I groaned my eyes fluttering shut, I wound my fingers into his hair and arched my hips slightly, I could feel him grin against me as he pushed my hips back down, I looked down at him and he gave me a small wink before slipping a finger into me. I gasped softly and he curled his finger lightly, making my fingers in his hair tighten. I bit my lip trying to keep myself quiet as he worked his fingers and lips in unison. I let out a small, shuttering gasping moan as I came apart, biting my knuckle to silence myself. Daryl started to move up my body, but paused at my stomach, planting another kiss to it.

"Sorry 'bout that baby, but Daddy's got to keep Momma happy." He looked up at me with his lazy, proud smirk as I lay there, my head spinning. He moved the rest of the way up my body, and took to kneading and kissing my breasts until I finally remembered how to move. I pulled him into a kiss, not caring that I could taste myself on his lips, pulling at his shirt. He grinned, raising his arms, letting me pull it up as much as I could without breaking the kiss. When we broke apart he pulled the shirt off and tossed it onto the couch at the end of the bed, before raising up on his knees. I pulled his boxers down to his knees, planting open mouthed kisses down the trail of hair that went from his belly button to his groin. He had been mostly hard when he went down on me, but now he was ready to go as I returned the favor. His hand rested on the top of my head as I bobbed up and down; he brushed some hair from my face and groaned softly, as I looked up, making eye contact with him. When he finally stopped me He sat down on his knees, and took my hand, I straddled him, and he put one hand on my lower back, before cupping one of my breasts. He kissed me, circling his thumb around my nipple as my hips started to rise and fall. His hips started to rise to meet mine, before he moved forward, knocking me back onto the bed, I wrapped my legs around his hips and moaned arching my hips into him as he planted either one of his hands on either side of me and kissed me again, kissing my neck and collarbone, when there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Hey Elle," Cal called from the other side.

"Just a minute." I called.

"Is Daryl in there?"

"Uh, yeah, he's in here." I grinned as I looked at Daryl; I kissed him quickly getting his attention back from the door.

"Well, tell him Rick wants to talk to Evan and Sven, and he'd feel better doing it with him there."

"What, now?"

"No, in a bit, the kids are having a good time swimming in the pool." He called as Daryl started to move again.

"Uh-huh…" I called back, distracted by what Daryl was doing.

"Are you telling him?" Cal called.

"Little busy." Daryl called back making me laugh. We were met with silence and I laughed again, before kissing Daryl.

* * *

When we walked out of the pool house, Sophia was climbing onto the rock waterfall. "Lizzie, Lizzie, watch this!" she shouted, before throwing herself into the water.

"Nice form." I laughed when she resurfaced. She grinned and flipped her blonde hair from her face as we walked into the main house.

"There you are." Carol looked over at me and Daryl as we walked in.

"Here we are." Daryl nodded and I snorted as I looked over at Sven. He winked at me and I grinned.

"Have some breakfast." Evan offered to us. "There's a house just over the hill, they're not doing so badly themselves, they bring over eggs, veggies, meat, things like that. Farmers, you know?" he told us and Maggie looked at her father with interest.

"What do they farm?" Hershel asked.

"Pigs mostly. You can imagine the smell in the spring." Sven shook his head. "In return we make wine, provide them with our own fruits and vegetables, and help them out whenever we can." He explained. "There's a few other houses like that around here. We've built a sort of network."

"That's great." Maggie nodded earnestly.

"It's been a lot less lonely." Evan nodded. "Maybe if you all aren't busy you can help out a little around the yard, Sven and I had planned on going over to Mr. Harris' place, and try to help out, they've got a sick sow, and aren't sure what's wrong with her-"

"Well Hershel's a vet, if you need him, I'm sure he'd be glad to go." Rick looked over at Hershel who nodded.

"That would be great, I'm sure Mr. Harris will appreciate it." Sven nodded.

* * *

That night after dinner of pork stew Rick asked to speak to Sven and Evan. I was listening to Beth tell Abbie about the farm, and about the night it had been taken. I would throw in a little detail here and there when Beth needed me to while I sharpened my knife.

"Liz," Daryl walked up behind me and I looked over my shoulder at him. "C'mon." I stood up and nodded to Beth. She nodded back and then continued to talk to Abbie while I followed Daryl, Rick, Hershel, Evan and Sven into an office.

"We want to first say thank you for opening your home to us." Rick told Sven and Evan who smiled.

"It's remarkable what you've been able to keep." I spoke up.

"We had our well dug after we learned about fracking, there was no way we were going to expose ourselves or our children to tainted water. Soon everyone around here caught wind of it and they all had wells dug too." Sven shrugged.

"Not just the water, or the solar panels, this place, it's just like stepping back into the old world." Rick shook his head. "A calmer world. I know we could never begin to repay you for letting us stay here, but-"

"Rick, save it." Evan smiled. "You're acting like you're the first people we've taken in since this happened."

"We're not?" Hershel asked. "You seemed pretty surprised that we were at your door last night."

"Surprised mostly because we hadn't heard about you being in town."

"You hear 'bout everyone comes through here?" Daryl asked with a frown and Evan smiled simply.

"We told you earlier, we've all built a network." He shrugged. "As long as you help out, take care of your business and keep your people in line, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need. We hear it may be a harsh winter. We'd hate to send a pregnant woman out into it." Sven's eyes landed on me and I looked down.

"Thank you." Rick breathed. "Lori's really concerned about giving birth on the road." He smiled and I looked at Sven who was staring at me.

"If that's all," Evan looked at us. "I believe I promised you all first taste of our homemade wine." He clapped his hands together. "If there's a better time for a toast, I don't know it." He gestured for us to follow him out of the room, but I hung back a little. Daryl looked back at me and I shook my head, he hung back as well while Sven shut the door.

"You haven't told anyone?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Carol knows." I told him.

"That I gathered." He brushed it off. "How will they react knowing there are two pregnant women in camp as opposed to one?"

"They ain't gotta react, what happens to Liz ain't no one's concern but mine."

"Your loyalty to your wife is-" Neither Daryl nor I heard what Sven was going to say, we looked at each other quickly and then back to Sven.

"No, we're not-"

"We ain't-"

We both grew silent and Sven nodded in understanding. "So you're not married." He shrugged. "You are part of a group though. What happens to them is your concern and what happens to you is theirs. Not to mention Lizzie's… Brother?" he frowned and I cleared my throat.

"Father." I admitted softly. It was the first time I had admitted it out loud to anyone other than Daryl. I knew Carol and Hunter had kept their mouths shut about the whole business, and Cal had done what I said and hadn't brought it up again, waiting for me to bring it up first, but I knew he wanted to talk about it.

"Ain't no one knows that but you." Daryl told Sven who shook his head.

"All these secrets," he sighed as he crossed his arms. "And you people claim to be a family." He walked to the door before pausing and looking back at us. "Keeping one secret is stressful enough. How many are you keeping? In your condition, the last thing you need is more stress. If not for you, then for the baby." He looked at me for a long moment and then walked out of the room.

"D'you think he's right?" I asked softly and he frowned.

"'Bout what?" he asked.

"'Bout us keepin' secrets. What if it ain't healthy?"

"You an' me, we ain't got secrets."

"From each other." I looked at him. "But we got secrets from them." I jerked my head towards the doorway.

"It ain't their business." He told me as he wrapped his arm around me. "They ain't blood."

"We ain't blood." I pointed out and he shook his head.

"That ain't true. That baby makes us blood. An' even 'fore 'im, we was…" he trailed off before taking my hand. "I ain't never loved no one before." He told me lowly, his eyes darting from me to the open door, his ears turning red as he worried about someone hearing his admission. He openly called me "His woman" in front of people, but he was still embarrassed about openly using the "L" word in front of other people.

"God- What would Janis say if she could see me now?" I muttered as I rested my forehead on his shoulder.

"You guys okay?" we both looked over at Glenn who was standing in the doorway.

"We're fine." I answered his quickly.

"You look a little pale." He took a step forward.

"We're fine." Daryl insisted and Glenn looked between us before catching my eye. I nodded and he shrugged before walking out of the room.

"We're family Dare," I agreed with him softly. "But so are they."

"What do you want to do? Tell them?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I just don't know how…"

"When you planning on doing that?" he asked and I smiled.

"I can't think of everything." I told him before I started to walk out of the room. He caught my hand and pulled me back gently, before running his hand over my stomach. I put my hand on his and he looked at me before kissing me quickly.

"Liz," he called as I started to walk away. I looked back at him and he nodded. "They ain't blood…" he paused. "But they're family."

"We'll tell 'em?" I asked and he sighed.

"Not yet…" he seemed hesitant. "Give it a couple weeks."

"A couple weeks, how long- Have…" I paused and he looked away, looking embarrassed. "Dare, this morning, were you reading the book?"

"You were asleep, I wanted to make sure we weren't hurtin' the baby when we…" he shrugged. "It was jus' there!" He turned his back on me and I walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind. He put his hand over mine and I sighed as I rested my forehead between his shoulder blades.

"We'll wait a couple weeks," I agreed. "'Till I'm out of the first trimester."

"I just wanna do right by you." He told me softly as he turned around.

"Who, me or the kid?" I asked and he smiled as he reached out and twisted a lock of my hair around his finger.

"Can't it be both?" he asked.

* * *

_**Okay, lots of fluff, I know, but don't worry, I'm planning something to rain on the fluff parade. After all, the group didn't spend the entire winter in a nice house with hot water and a pool, now did they? No, they'll be back to roughing it soon enough, and then after that, WOODBURY! WOO! **_

_**Please don't forget to review, and if you haven't seen it already, there's a poll on my homepage, where you guys get to put in your two cents about what Lizzie and Daryl's baby should be. Go check it out!** _


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey y'all, I know it's been awhile, and I'm not going to make any excuses for myself. Just accept this chapter as my way of trying to make it up to you. Hope you enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead or any of the characters. All I own are my own characters. **_

* * *

Sometimes I wondered how I got myself into these messes. I pumped the shotgun and turned a corner with it held out, and stopped seeing Daryl there with a knife at the ready. We both sighed and then heard a noise to our left. He held his fingers to his lips, and then pointed to the ceiling, and I nodded before I turned round the corner, my gun ready, but there was nothing there.

I lowered my gun slightly and looked to my side to see if Daryl was still there when someone wrapped their arm around me, pulling me against them, my gun was yanked from me before I had a chance to try and fight back and the cool blade of a knife was pressed into my skin.

"Well hello there Mrs. Dixon," the gruff voice spoke in my ear. "Welcome back. Now, where's that husband of yours?" I cursed myself for being so stupid as he marched me up the stairs, the knife to my neck. I could see Evan and Sven in the living room, Evan unconscious, Sven trying to wake him up, he looked over at me and I could see his eyes drop. "Daryl!" Gator shouted. "Git yer ass out here!"

"We got your woman boy, you'd best git out here." I felt my throat tighten as Gator turned so he was speaking only to me. "I'm gonna slice that pretty little face of yours so much, even your husband won't want you no more." He promised as he lifted the knife from my neck to my cheek. He ran the point of the blade down my face, as his hand went from my waist to my stomach. "And then after that, I'm gonna cut that baby outta you, and I'm gonna feed it to the dead." He chuckled before pressing the blade into my cheek. I could feel a line of blood run down my cheek, but I didn't make a sound. I shut my eyes, and tried to tune his taunting words out, as I did, I couldn't help but remember how this had all gotten started the week before.

* * *

Despite the plan to tell everyone when I was out of the first trimester they found out about two weeks later. It was after dinner and after the kids had gone to sleep, when Evan and Sven led us downstairs to the basement. The entire room was painted a dark red and had been converted to a private bar. Wood paneling went about halfway up the wall, and looked like it was made of a light wood, probably oak. There was a pool table in the middle of the room, and a dark brown leather couch, the entire room had a very gentlemen's lounge feel to it. The bar was wood and was against the furthest wall from the stairs, there was a poker table set up and to the left of the bar was a jukebox.

"This is incredible." I breathed as I looked around.

"Jeeze Lizzie, this is the bar the Silver Spoon wishes it was." Rick joked and I scoffed.

"Please, can you see some of our clients hanging out in a place like this? This is the kind of place that like, college professors hang out or something."

"Well Sven always did consider himself a scholar of sorts." Evan teased his husband and we grinned as Sven rolled his eyes.

"Can I make anyone a drink?" he asked as he went to the bar. "We've got the full bar."

"Nothing for me," Hershel shook his head.

"Just a club soda." Lori smiled as she sat at the bar.

"Liz, Whisky sour, am I right?" Cal pointed to me and I let out a small laugh.

"Well, you know you're right, but I ain't drinkin'." I shook my head as I leaned on the pool table.

"You're not drinking?" T- Dog asked doubtfully.

"What are you, pregnant?" Glenn laughed as he sipped his drink. Everyone grew silent as they looked over at me, I rolled a pool ball around under my hand before I looked at them and held out my hands.

"If y'all're expectin' me to deny it, you'll be waitin' awhile." I told them.

"'Bout seven months." Daryl added and I snorted.

"Wait, you're serious? You're really pregnant?" Maggie asked in disbelief and I shrugged lightly before I nodded.

"Oh my god." she put her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god!" She moved forward and hugged me tightly and I let out a small laugh.

"When were you planning on telling everyone?" Rick asked as he walked over to me, Maggie let go and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders tightly.

"Not for a few more weeks actually." I admitted.

"You knew didn't you?" Lori asked Carol who laughed lightly.

"Me and Sven." Carol nodded to Sven who gave a small wave.

"So," Cal said after a moment. "Everyone knew 'fore me huh?" he asked and I sighed lightly.

"We were gonna tell you first." Daryl told him. "But then the Chinaman had ta open his mouth." He nodded to Glenn who rolled his eyes.

"Well Excuse me." Glenn joked and then wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Soo…."

"I not naming it after you." I told him sternly and he snapped his fingers in mock disappointment.

"How long have you known?" Lori asked after a moment and I cleared my throat.

"Since the day we got here." I told her.

"And you're just now telling us?"

"Hey, Lori, it's understandable, waiting for the right time, right?" Rick asked and I nodded. "We didn't tell your parents about Carl until you were four months along." He pointed out.

"We weren't in danger all the time then." She protested.

"We've been safe for awhile now." Maggie pointed out.

"But it's like she always says, we're never safe, not completely."

"Lori, you remember how stressful you first trimester was? You know how it is now? Lizzie's younger than you, she's never had a kid before. Of course she'd want to keep it a secret for a little while. Just let things happen, you know?" Sven shrugged and Lori sighed before nodding.

"I'm sorry Lizzie," she looked at me. "I guess I'm not the only one expanding my family."

"Guess not." I nodded to her. "And thanks."

It was a week after that, when we saw our first sign of strangers. We had met the other people around, making up the network of people that Sven, Evan and Abbie had created, but these people, they were different.

* * *

It had started off as a regular day, Glenn was helping Sven and Cal figure out how to fix part of the pump in the well, Daryl was helping the lost boys with target practice, I was taking watch, Carol and Lori were cooking; and Parker, Evan and Hershel had gone over to the farm and were helping out over there. I tapped my foot against the roof of the RV, watching out over the area, before picking up the binoculars, I looked out towards the road and saw nothing in particular, and then turned around looking in the circle around the house. The RV shook slightly as someone came up the ladder and I looked at T-Dog climbed onto the roof holding a bottle of water and a plate.

"Carol sent this up for you." He told me and I smiled lightly.

"Thanks T." I took the plate and the bottle of water. I took a sip of the water and looked at the piece of cold chicken and the veggies that Carol had sent.

"So, havin' a baby huh?" he asked.

"So it would seem." I looked at him.

"Gotta admit, you're the last person I'd expect to be starting a family"

"I've already got a family." I told him and he looked at me curiously. "Well, all of y'all." I shrugged. "Y'all're family." I shrugged. "This," I put my hand over my stomach. "This is just one more person in the family." I explained.

"I always wanted kids." He sighed.

"Really?" I asked and he smiled lightly.

"I know, but, uh, yeah, I wanted kids." He smiled lightly. "My sister, she had three." I let out a small whistle and he chuckled. "I know right. Three boys."

"God, your sister must have had nerves of steel."

"Oh she did." T-Dog laughed. "I like to think they're out there still. I know, it's not likely, but, Somewhere T.J. Oscar, and Stephen are out there." He shrugged.

"They could be."

"She lived in Louisiana." He explained as he looked at me.

"She could be fine, stayin' in the bayou, I'm sure it's hard for walkers to get through the swamp." I told him and he nodded.

"Best eat. You're eatin' for two now."

"Like I don't get enough of that from Carol?" I laughed and he shook his head.

"You're gonna be hearing it from everyone now, you and Lori both until those babies are born. Gotta say, it's gonna be weird seeing Daryl as a Daddy."

"Why's that?" I asked as I picked up a slice of zucchini and popped it in my mouth.

"Just, it's Daryl you know?" he shrugged. "He ain't what ya think of when you think of parent of the month."

"I think Daryl will be a great Dad." I looked at him quickly and he held his hands up in surrender before going to reply before Daryl came jogging over to the RV.

"Git on down, there's people comin in." he told us and we looked at each other before climbing off of the RV. "You good to take this?" Daryl asked and I nodded.

"I'll be fine." I assured him and he sighed before nodding.

"I can't stop you." He shook his head.

"You feeling okay?" I asked with a small smile. He scoffed lightly and I smiled before kissing the corner of his mouth. "I'm teasin'." I told him and he nodded.

"I know." He affirmed as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. The gate at the top of the hill opened and I could hear tires starting to roll down the drive. I rested the shotgun on my shoulder and looked at him. He pulled me into a quick kiss before he picked up his crossbow and we walked towards the driveway with everyone else.

The first person out of the truck was a blonde woman with a pink sweater and white pants. I smiled seeing them, it reminded me of Amy. I looked over at Sven and Evan who were walking over to the girl. They spoke for a moment, and I couldn't hear what they were saying, but finally she nodded to whoever was in the back of her car, before three people got out of the car.

The first was a woman in her mid thirties with stringy black hair; she had a thin, slightly gaunt face and was very thin. After her was a girl about eighteen, she had black hair, was thin, and was wearing a black tank top showing off numerous tattoos. After the girls there was a tall man on the other side of the car, he was thicker, probably in his late forties, early fifties, with black facial hair, he had on a pair of tight jeans, a black tee shirt and a black leather jacket and he held an axe over his shoulder. He grinned looking around the place before his eyes landed on the group. He nudged the guy getting out of the car after him, a young man with blonde hair, and tanned skin; he had his hair buzzed close to the scalp, and was dressed similarly to the man that had nudged him.

"Gator." It was Daryl who had spoken up first, and all eyes went to him as he stood there staring at the group.

"Ho-leey shit." The dark haired guy who I assumed was Gator laughed. "Look who it is Martha." He nodded to Daryl and the older woman looked over.

"Daryl!" she grinned and walked over to him quickly. She wrapped her arms around him and then pressed her lips against his. I could see his shoulders stiffen before he backed away.

About an hour later after all of the introductions we were in the back yard of the house, on the patio. Abbie was talking to the younger girl or the group, Nancy, and the Lost Boys were talking to the younger boy, Duke while Daryl talked to Gator. "Shit man, never thought we'd be seein' you again. Guess we shouldn't be surprised huh?" Gator grinned as he walked over and shook Daryl's hand. "Where's the ol' nut buster huh?"

"Gone." Daryl replied shortly.

"Well shit man. I'm sure wherever he is, he's survivin'."

"No, he died long time ago." Daryl shook his head and Gator shrugged.

"Well, what about Merle? Where's he at?"

"Gone too."

"Well hell boy. Sounds like you Dixon's are an endangered species."

"Almost." Daryl replied his eyes landed on me where I was talking to Maggie lowly.

"Which one you lookin' at?" Gator asked and Daryl looked back to him. "Lord knows it's been awhile since I got laid, wouldn't mind takin' 'em both for a spin if you know what I mean. Speakin' uh which, Martha there, she's still hot for ya."

"Liz." Daryl called and I looked over at him. "Commere for a sec."

"I'll be right back." I told Maggie.

"Be careful, I don't like the way they look."

"Me either. Keep Beth away from 'em."

"Yeah." She agreed and crossed her arms as I walked over, resting the shotgun on my shoulder. I didn't like the way Gator watched me as I walked over. It was like he was… Well, a gator, eyeing his next meal.

"Baby, this is Gator Elroy," he gestured to Gator even though he had introduced himself to the whole group earlier. "Gator, this is Liz Dixon, my wife." He looked at Gator pointedly who didn't even try to hide his surprise.

"Well shit boy, you gone and got yourself married? How long ago that happen? Shit, how come you didn't invite us?"

"Like I could find ya if I wanted to." Daryl scoffed and Gator's eyes took on a dangerous look.

"Let's keep it friendly Daryl." He said warningly and Daryl matched his look. "So how long y'all been stayin' with these queers huh?" he asked.

"That ain't none of your business." Daryl told Gator who scoffed lightly.

"No I guess not." He nodded."We ain't plannin' on stayin' too long neither. Soon as our car's fixed, it's back on our way to Mexico."

"Mexico?" Daryl asked and Gator shrugged.

"You know what they say about the Mexican girls." Gator shrugged. "They're twenty five when they're sixteen, and ripe for the pickin'. Speakin' of which, how old is that little blonde peach?" he nodded to where the Lost Boys were working on piling firewood.

"I don't want them staying here." I told Evan and Sven sternly. "Gator is- he's disgusting."

"Always has been, always will be." Daryl nodded as he stood next to me.

"What's wrong with him?" Evan asked and I shook my head.

"He- I don't trust him." I shook my head.

"He ain't sayin' the right things 'round the right age." Daryl tried to explain.

"I think," I sighed as I looked at Rick who was standing there as well. "I think he's taking the lack of authority to his advantage, and I don't want Sophia or Beth around him." I told them.

"Me either." Daryl agreed. "Don't want Liz, or Carol or Maggie, or hell, even Lori 'round him."

"What about the women traveling with him?" Rick asked.

"Martha's always hung 'round him,"

"You two seemed pretty familiar." Carol mentioned and I looked at Daryl who shook his head.

"She likes to think we were familiar." He scowled.

"It's already nightfall, can't this wait until morning?" Evan asked. "Their car should be fixed by tomorrow, then they won't have to stay."

"That's the thing though, they get too comfortable here, they gonna stay if ya want 'em to or not." Daryl explained.

"We outnumber them, in weapons and in people." Rick assured Daryl. "I think one night will be okay."

"If Daryl thinks they're this muck of a concern, we may want to take some precautions." Parker suggested.

"Parker's right." Glenn agreed. "Why don't we limit their movements to one room for the night, and then in the morning, until Josie and Victor come to get them, we keep a close eye on them, don't let them go wondering alone, that kind of deal."

"How do we limit them to one room?" Rick Hershel asked.

"Same way we did back at the ranch." Maggie told her father. "We lock 'em in for the night."

"Is that ethical?"" Lori asked. "I- I mean, remember what happened last time."

"This time none of our group is going to be helping them escape." Rick told his wife who sighed and then nodded.

"If it's what you think is right." She sighed.

"All in favor?" Evan asked and we all nodded.

* * *

The trouble started late that night, we had all had dinner and we had figured out the sleeping arrangements, they were going to sleep in the basement, Evan and Sven brought out some old blow up mattresses and brought them downstairs for them, however when Duke offered to take first shift with me.

I didn't even know about it until he came walking over to the RV with his baseball bat in his hand. "Hey." He grunted and I stared at him in shock.

"Uh, hey…" I muttered. "I thought y'all were in bed."

"Nah, they put us down there with the bar. Gator's goin' to it, I figure I'd help out here." He shrugged.

"Well, thanks" I replied. "But I've got it, ya know?"

"I don't mind." He replied and I sighed. It was a quiet two hours before Cal came onto the roof of the RV and show me a questioning look. I shrugged and he cleared his throat before nodding to me.

"Go on kiddo, get on out of here." He told me and I nodded before leaving. When I got to the pool house Daryl was reading a book. He had taken to borrowing books from the library, sometimes going through one in two days.

"How's it out there?" he asked.

"Crowded." I replied. "Duke took it upon himself to come on up."

"God dammit." He muttered as he put the book to the side. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sat up a I was changing. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Not much. Just sort of sat there really- He went off on his own to do the sweeps though."

"Right." Daryl muttered softly.

"Oh, so, when were you planning on telling me we had gotten married?" I asked as I looked over at Daryl. He suddenly looked uncomfortable, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You rather have Gator thinkin' you're single?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I don't see how it would matter to Gator is a girl was single or spoken for." I replied.

"I don't want him lookin' at ya like that." He told me.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like he can do whatever he wants to ya." He replied. "Don't want no one lookin' at ya like that, an' then what he said about Beth-"

"Wha'd he say about Beth?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I just think we need ta get them outta here tomorrow." He replied.

"How do you even know them?" I asked as I got into the bed.

"Merle knew 'em. Got inta it with our ol' man one night, and took off, he was about nineteen, twenty, I was a kid. Merle comes back two days later with Gator, grabs a bag uh his clothes, and leaves again. Didn't see him for about six months." He explained. Ever since then, him an' Gator, they draggin' each other down." He nodded. "You know I'd marry ya." He told me, suddenly changing the subject.

"What?" I laughed lightly and he looked over at me. "I'd marry ya. Never told no one that 'fore, but…" he shrugged. "Never thought 'bout it."

"This doesn't just have something to do with me bein' knocked up?" he let out a small scoff and then leaned off the bed and pulled his backpack up. He dug through it for a moment before he drew his hand out and held it out. I held my palm out and he dropped something into it. In the palm of my hand sat a simple, silver Claddagh ring, the two hands holding a heart with a crown. I stared at it for a moment before looking at Daryl in surprise.

"Dare-" I breathed and he took the ring from my palm.

"The story is, a fishing boat was captured by pirates in Ireland 'bout three hundred years ago or somethin' and one of the fishermen was sold to a goldsmith. He made the first one uh these rings, and kept it 'till he won his freedom, an' went back home. When he got there, his girl had waited all them years for him." He explained as he lifted my left hand up, and looked at me. He slipped the ring onto my ring finger and ran his thumb over it. "She never gave up on him. Back, when we lost the farm, I almost gave up on seein' you again. I'll never give up on you again." He promised and I smiled softly.

"I think," I chuckled lightly. "In these circumstances, this is as good a wedding as we're ever gonna get."

"Commere," he held his arms open and I leaned forward and kissed him deeply. "So's this it then?" he asked and I pretended to think as I rested my chin on his shoulder.

"Hmm…" I hummed "That depends." I looked at him and he grinned lightly. "Think you can handle being a married man?"

"Depends who I'm married to." He winked at me and I laughed lightly before he pulled me into another kiss.

The next morning was when all the trouble started. To be honest, for the rest of the night I hardly gave Gator and his little group another thought, but when we woke up, well, it was an interesting awakening to say in the least.

I jolted out of bed as the door to the pool house was kicked in, there was a loud whoop and people moved into the room, Daryl scrambled for his crossbow, but he was cut off by one of the men standing there.

"Jesus Daryl," practically right where I left ya." One of the men sneered and Daryl's eyes narrowed as he put his arm in front of me.

"Aw come on Daryl, ya ain't got a kind word for your ol' friend Drew?"

"I would if I saw my friend, stead'a the fuckin' traitor in front of me." Daryl spat.

"Hey now, let's keep things nice." Drew replied. He was around Gator's age, a beefy, bearded man with tattoos all up and down his arms. He held a handgun right at Daryl's face and the guy next to me was a thin man with a long gaunt face and a long blonde ponytail.

"Mornin' sweetheart." the blonde guy leered at me and Daryl's glare turned onto him.

"Back the fuck off-"

"Daryl, you ain't in the position to be makin' no demands." Drew laughed, before throwing a pair of pants at Daryl. "Put your pants on boy, let's go."

"I ain't goin' nowhere without my wife." Daryl looked at me.

"Oh don't worry about her, she'll be fine. Vince here'll take real good care of her, won'tcha?"

"Like she were my own wife." Vince turned to look at Daryl who looked at me. Daryl was about to say something but Drew put his gun against the back of Daryl's head and led him out of the room, leaving me there with the leering Vincent.

* * *

_**Oh yeah, first cliffhanger of the series! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! **_

_**Please don't forget to review! **_


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